Germany reduced steel production by 13.5% y/y in February

In February 2025, German steelmakers reduced steel production by 13.5% compared to the same month in 2024, to 2.7 million tons. The figure increased by 0.8% compared to the previous month. This is evidenced by data from the German Steel Industry Association WVStahl.

Steel production in oxygen converters amounted to 1.84 million tons for the month, down 14.4% y/y and 0.9% m/m, and in electric arc furnaces – 864 thousand tons (-11.5% y/y; +4.7% m/m).

Pig iron production in Germany in February decreased by 15.9% compared to February 2024, and by 0.5% compared to January to 1.71 million tons. Hot-rolled steel production decreased by 16.9% y/y and 4.7% m/m – to 2.37 million tons.

In January-February 2025, the German steel industry reduced steel production by 13.1% y/y – to 5.38 million tons. Oxygen converters produced 3.69 million tons of steel (-15.2% y/y), and electric arc furnaces produced 1.69 million tons (-8.2% y/y). Pig iron production fell by 16.1% y/y over the two months to 3.42 million tons. Rolled steel production decreased by 12.9% y/y – to 4.85 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Germany is among the ten largest steel producers in the world according to World Steel. In 2024, the country increased its steel production by 5.2% compared to 2023, to 37.23 million tons. Pig iron production for the year amounted to 24.33 million tons (+2.9% y/y), and hot-rolled steel production amounted to 31.61 million tons (+3% y/y).

Despite the growth in steel production, the volume of smelting for the third consecutive year remained below the 40 million tons, which corresponds to the level of the recession, WVStahl notes.